We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Richard Wagner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Richard below.
Richard, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
6 Years ago, While serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. A really good friend of mine came up with the idea of starting our own business. The goal was to sell tactical gear to other members of the military. Anything a soldier would need from winter hats, gloves, boots, and backpacks. Everything from head to toe minus the guns. I had a Magic the Gathering card collection (similar to Pokémon cards) which I sold and used the money which was around $1,000 to put up a small display in a local military units canteen. Over the course of a few months we realized that, we might had stumbled onto a great business plan. After a year of being in business I was forced to relocate to the other side of the country for a Military posting. We made the hard choice to move the wall display into a small 600Sq ft retail shop. Because I was active military I wouldn’t have the time to work the store. Luckily my wife Cheryl Lynn made this dream possible. For the first time we had our own store. Business exploded, beyond our small 600Sq ft shop. A shop next door to us was leaving there unit and we where able to move into there location, increasing out store to 1600Sq Ft. Over the course of the years we where able to expand even further to what is now a 2600sq Ft shop, and opened up a 2nd location on the other side of the country. The thing that I feel sets us apart or stands above the rest of our industry collogues, Would be the fact that both my partner and I are active military with over 28 years of combined experience. When it comes to understanding the needs of our fellow soldiers, or what there allowed to wear to keep them safe and protected we know, because we use the same products.
Richard, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We have always prided ourselves on our customer service. Because we started off from a very small display, we have always been humbled in the fact that having customers trust us enough to shop with us over our competitors was important. When it comes to going above and beyond for our customers we have hand delivered orders to customers for no extra fees, For customers that where forced to stay on base during Covid, We brought and paid for a pizza party so they could for a small moment feel like regular people again. When you enter our stores instead of sitting on a hard bench to try your boots on, you instead sit on a leather recliner chair. We have Arcades in our store so if you bring your kids they can have something to do while their parents shop. We serve Coffee to anyone that walks in. We are always trying to raise the bar as to what we can do and should do in our industry. When the Ukraine conflict with Russia started, we paid for one of our customers to fly first class to Poland to deliver aid. Since then one of our Battle Rattle Owners has traveled to Ukraine 10 times to deliver hundreds of thousands of dollars of supplies to the front line forces of Ukraine.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Our business is very much reliant on the Military. When Covid hit the Canadian Military shut down which meant no sales where coming in. We knew, and understood that within our company, items like Stickers and shirts where big sellers. So we went out and bought a Vinyl printer cutter, which allowed us to make Covid floor displays and social distancing stickers for other cliental that we normally wouldn’t have gotten business from. Within a few weeks we where able to completely pay off the machine. When business started to reopen there doors to customers, we then had the ability to make our own stickers, shirts, licenses plates, which increased our margins, and added more opportunity for additional employment within our community. Since then we have made a large effort to hire Soldiers looking for extra work, Transitioning soldiers, and helping them intergrade into the civilian work force, and lastly spouses that are forced to relocate because of the military and are not able to find work
How’d you meet your business partner?
My partner Jeremy and I where both new recruits for the Canadian Armed Forces. We joined around the same time, but didn’t know each other until we where both selected for the same course back in 2010. We spent several months together on the same course, I would say because of the intense military environment and training we where able to build an unbreakable bond and friendship that has stood the test of time. We then where posted together to the other side of the country where we became Armoured Soldiers. At one point in our military career we even served on the same Call sign (Tank) together. I have been lucky to have had many friends in my time, but there is something to be said about the bond soldiers have with one another. When Jeremy approached me with this idea, we had already served together for the past 8 years, He was in my wedding party. We run and organized a charity event, which is still in exitance 5 plus years later. I truly believe that if it wasn’t for this bond we would not be where we are today. The fact that both Jeremy and I live on opposite sides of the country and run two stores, and a website is very difficult but as a team we are able to handle the many challenges that come along with it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.battlerattle.ca
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battle_rattle_tactical/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Battlerattletac/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@battlerattle9436/videos